A former Goldman Sachs executive denied Tuesday he did anything wrong up to and during the 2008 financial crisis and said he welcomes legislative scrutiny as he seeks to become Gov. Ned Lamont’s chief economic adviser.

David Lehman testified for more than 90 minutes as legislators repeatedly asked him about his actions during the subprime mortgage crisis that led to the Great Recession.

Rep. Edwin Vargas, D-Hartford, and the executive and legislative nominations committee co-chairman, said Lehman’s former firm “was seen as a very bad player in terms of what happened in 2008 in the economy.”

Lehman responded that “all financial institutions” that were involved in the mortgage crisis “bear some responsibility” for the financial problems.

“Goldman Sachs is no different. The firm has said that directly, and I’m saying that today,” Lehman said. “I’m also mindful that I was a senior executive managing a portion of that business at the time, and for that, I bear responsibility as well. I just want to get that on the record because I think that is important.”

Despite the questions, Lehman’s nomination advanced out of the committee on an 8-0 bipartisan vote. The nomination now heads to the 36-member state Senate.

During his testimony, Lehman said any suggestion that he knew a particular security was worthless and still sold it to a client is “completely and wholly untrue.” He repeated variations of that statement during the hearing and pledged to be open and transparent with the legislators.

Lehman, 41, is known for his public testimony on Capitol Hill, where he was asked to explain the role that financial derivatives played in the meltdown. When asked Tuesday if there was anything in his background that would prove embarrassing to Lamont or himself, Lehman answered no.

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Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, a New Haven Democrat, seconded the motion to approve Lehman’s nomination but said it was because he “deserves to be considered by an entire chamber.”

Looney was cautious talking about Lehman after the hearing and declined to give a ringing endorsement of the nominee. When asked if he has personal reservations about the nomination, Looney said he preferred not to comment until the full, Senate Democratic caucus meets in a closed-door session. He said he has not spoken to Lamont or his full caucus about Lehman.

Looney said he was concerned about Lehman’s role in the financial meltdown and intends to conduct more research.

When asked if he believed Lehman’s testimony Tuesday was truthful, Looney responded, “I couldn’t characterize it, either way. I think we need to do some more research and see whether there are any other indicators of contemporaneous comments at the time that might indicate anything that is different from what he said today.”

Asked if he believed Lehman never sold a security that was worthless, Looney said, “I have not formed any opinion on that issue.”

Lehman’s nomination is among the most high profile of Lamont’s tenure, and three of Lamont’s key staff members attended portions of his testimony Tuesday.

Despite living in Greenwich for the past 10 years, Lehman said he did not meet Lamont, a fellow Greenwich resident, until January. He had watched Lamont’s State of the State address and reached out to one of Lamont’s friends to volunteer his service in the administration.

Some legislators said they were concerned and uncomfortable that Lehman is not currently taking a salary as the commissioner-designate of the state Department of Economic and Community Development. They said he could accept a salary and then donate it back to the state if he chooses.

Lehman said he had not discussed the idea in detail and simply told Lamont’s team he would serve without compensation.

Some lawmakers said it was unusual that a highly paid executive would leave his job at a prestigious firm at the age of 41 in order to work for the state for free.

When asked if he would pledge to serve all four years of Lamont’s term, Lehman said that he planned to serve “indefinitely” and had not discussed any specific time frame with Lamont.

After the hearing, Lehman said he needed to clear the air in order for him to have a good relationship with legislators in the future.

“I’m all for transparency, and I’m glad that we had that discussion," Lehman said. “I felt like it was the appropriate discussion. I had a leadership role and a management role during the financial crisis, and I feel like everything that was said in there [during the hearing] was appropriate.”